When I first started working on my M151A2 I came on this forum and asked many questions, and asked for photos. One of the comments I got was from Colin MacGregor Stevens was something to the effect of "Pick the era you want to represent...." I'm glad he mentioned that. Because once I did, it made things easy.
With an Iltis it is crucial you do this.
The Iltis was used with both Tac Rad systems (VRC-12 and then later IRIS/TCCCS), and in the case of Bosnia, the Iltis was used during in that Theatre when the transition from one system to the other occurred.
Both Theatres (Afghanistan and Bosnia) saw things happen to these vehicles that went against some of the "rules" at the time:
- In Bosnia, the Area of Operation was much larger than what TAC Rad was designed for, hence HF being fitted to an Iltis. Either system could have been employed (TCCCS or VRC-12), but not concurrently.
- In Afghanistan, the Iltis utilized TCCCS (and possibly the 117F HF) and was on its last legs prior to disposal, so what ever you could dream up was only a visit to the Mat Tech away who basically had "carte blanc" to make changes to the vehicles. They did not however have VRC-12 stuff, and the rules for TCCCS Installations were quite rigid and rarely deviated from due to COMSEC considerations.
The point i'm trying to make is that i'm seeing all kinds of references to Afghanistan and the late days of Bosnia, GPS Mounts (or is it actually a TCCCS Control Indicator Mount?), yet details about VRC-12/MT-1029 18 Pin Connections, Dog Houses etc etc.
By all means do what you want as they are your vehicles, just be aware of those facts, and that guys like me will probably ask why TCCCS stuff is being used in conjunction with VRC-12 stuff (which didn't happen), or why VRC-12 stuff is being used on a vehicle trying to depict the post GWOT era (which also didn't happen). Your either restoring something to represent and era, or your simply just owning an MV. When these cross over is when things become muddy and you end up with this:
Maybe I take it personally as I deployed numerous times on both of those Operations, but now I digress....